After nearly a year of construction, the newly
expanded and renovated Addison County Humane Society is complete and open for
adoptions. You are invited for a public open house on Friday from 1 to 4 PM.
Tours of the shelter will be given at that time. No RSVP necessary. A few features of the new facility
include a reception area to welcome guests and potential adopters; an admission
area, which will provide greater privacy for persons needing to surrender their
pet and/or the intake of stray or lost animals; an incoming area designated for
all newly admitted animals, providing quiet space for new animals to adjust to
the facility and be medically cleared for adoption; “Meet & Greet” rooms
for potential adopters to play and become familiar with animals they are
considering for adoption; “Cat Land” housing and public viewing area for cats
that are available for adoption; and of course the separate “Dog Barn” offering
housing and public viewing area for dogs that are available for adoption. Visit them online right now at www.addisonhumane.org.
This morning the Middlebury Finance and Fundraising
Task Force will meet at 9:00. The
meeting will be held at the Middlebury Town Offices. Learn more right now on the Town’s Website.
According to Vermont State Police a residence on St
Johns Road in the Town of Sudbury was burglarized at an unknown time. Entry was
made into the residence via a rear ground level door and items were stolen from
the master bedroom. The case is
still under investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact
the Vermont State Police at the Castleton Outpost (802) 773-9101. Information
can also be submitted anonymously online at www.vtips.info
or text CRIMES (274637) to keyword VTIPS.
The sidewalks along Mill Street in Middlebury will
be replaced starting on Monday. The
street and walk will be closed at 7:00AM until 11:00AM each day until the work
is complete. This schedule is so the contractor can do as much work as possible
before the shops and restaurant open. The sidewalk will be removed in sections
with at least four separate sections planned. Pedestrians will have access to
shops because they are staggering the pours and splitting entranceways. However
there will be times when pedestrians will need to use the stairs up to Park
Street. Vehicle access to the Frog Hollow parking lot will be from Weybridge
Street. Park Street will be open except when working on the top section uphill
from Frog Hollow Alley to Main Street.
A unique public-access e-program in Bristol is now
open to Addison County residents at Mt.
Abraham Union High School. Thanks
to the generous funding of e-Vermont, Mt. Abraham Union Middle-High School
Library's electronic resources opened its computers and e-lab for public use. To
ensure the success of the project, and its longevity beyond the 25-week funding
period, school officials are hoping for a strong turn out and show of support
for the service. You may use the
school’s library e-resources Monday through Thursday from 3:30PM – 7:00PM.
The North Elba supervisor took time during this
week’s Public Works Committee Meeting of the Essex County Board of Supervisors
to voice concerns over the response he has received about the Essex County
Fair. Westport Supervisor Daniel Connell, who chairs the Fair Committee, said
this year was challenging, but only a setback compared to previous years. He said that in the years leading up to
this month’s fair, they had seen steady growth in attendance numbers. Daniel
added that for most counties, a successful year financially was not entirely
based on the fair.
Every space in the shopping-center parking lot was
filled when the new Peebles Department Store opened yesterday morning. The new
store joins Advance Auto Parts, Dollar Tree, Rite Aid Drugs and Aaron’s Rental
Center in the Four Corners shopping center in Ticonderoga. The store offers
clothing, accessories and cosmetics for women and juniors as well as men’s and
children’s apparel. Peebles took a
storefront formerly occupied by Tops Friendly Markets, which closed five years
ago, and before that, Grand Union Markets. Join our very own Amanda Leigh today from 11AM – 1PM at
Peebles! Stop by and say hello –
also register to win a pair of tickets to see Scotty McCreery at the Vermont
State Fair in Rutland on September 8th!
Police and other searchers are combing Crown Point
for 45-year-old Keith Gill who was last seen August 19th. Gill has ties to Chestertown in Warren
County and Pennsylvania, and State Police Troop G was conducting an investigation
into his disappearance. A 1999 BMW associated with the Keith was located in
Crown Point. The circumstances of Gill's disappearance remain under
investigation.
New York State has launched a program to fund
development of broadband access. Applications
for Connect NY Broadband grants can be submitted for part of $25 million in
funding available through the Regional Economic Development Councils and Empire
State Development. The councils
identified expansion of high-speed Internet as a priority to help local
businesses increase their ability to reach customers and encourage providers to
improve Internet access for local communities. The grants will be awarded to
Internet service companies and in partnership with local governments and
economic-development organizations.
The Cuomo administration reports distributing more
than $574 million in state aid to help communities recover from flooding since
back-to-back tropical storms Irene and Lee dropped torrents of rain last year.
Their report also notes an estimated $1.5 billion in Federal Emergency
Management Agency costs, with 38 of New York's 62 counties affected, and 33,000
people registering for individual federal assistance.
Two New York women and a Vermont country inn have
settled a lawsuit that accused the inn of refusing to host the lesbian couple's
wedding reception. The American
Civil Liberties Union says The Wildflower Inn in Lyndonville agreed to pay a
$10,000 civil penalty to the Vermont Human Rights Commission and place $20,000
in a charitable trust. Kate
Linsley and Ming Linsley contacted the ACLU after the Wildflower Inn’s “events
manager” told Ming’s mother last year that due to the innkeepers'
"personal feelings," the inn did not host "gay receptions."
The women say they will use the money for legal costs and donate the rest to
charity. As part of the
settlement, the Wildflower Inn agreed to no longer host wedding receptions.
An Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency said in South Burlington yesterday that the EPA is reviewing a court ruling that relieved states with coal plants from having to pay for environmental cleanup. Lisa Jackson said the EPA would investigate whether the decision was politically motivated. The EPA could ask for a judicial reconsideration of the case.
An Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency said in South Burlington yesterday that the EPA is reviewing a court ruling that relieved states with coal plants from having to pay for environmental cleanup. Lisa Jackson said the EPA would investigate whether the decision was politically motivated. The EPA could ask for a judicial reconsideration of the case.
This summer has seen the largest outbreak of West
Nile Virus in U.S. history. The
virus hasn't shown up in Vermont yet this year, but it has in New
Hampshire. A representative of the
Vermont Health Department advised staying indoors when possible and using
mosquito repellants when outside.
Vermont State Police are transferring Lieutenant
Marc Thomas to its Waterbury headquarters amid an investigation into a time
card fraud investigation. Thomas
has served as the Williston station commander where former Sergeant Jim Deeghan
is alleged to have filed time sheets for 63 hours of overtime he didn't
work. Deeghan has pleaded not
guilty to the charges.
The Barre City Council is considering a smoking ban
in city parks. "The Times
Argus" reports residents are fed up with discarded cigarettes littering
the park. They've scheduled a
public hearing Tuesday at 7 p.m. for people to voice their opinion before a vote.
The Caledonia County Fair is in full swing. A main attraction this year is the Big
Cat Encounter, which features white Bengal tigers that fairgoers can feed if
they're brave enough. Fair
organizers are expecting around 30-thousand visitors this year.
A Minnesota renewable energy company is looking to
help set up a solar-powered furnace business in Vermont. The furnaces would be made in a 6,000
square-foot former mill building in Bellows Falls. The Eagle-Times reports the company, Rural Renewable Energy
Alliance, has agreed to provide its patented design of solar panels that create
heat through a furnace through a Vermont company. The local company would be
called RREAL Warm.
Sen. Bernie Sanders and the head of the Environmental
Protection Agency say the Vermont National Guard is a national model for what
other military bases can do to cut their reliance on fossil fuels. Sanders and EPA Administrator Lisa
Jackson toured a solar power installation yesterday at the Air Guard Base in
South Burlington. The project was
completed in October of last year after Sanders, as chair of the Senate Green
Jobs Subcommittee, helped to secure $8.5 million to build it. Today, the
1.45-megawatt project is one of the largest solar installations at any Guard
base in the country.
In 1994, John Grega was the first person sentenced
to life without parole under Vermont's then-new aggravated murder law. Now he's the first to have his
conviction vacated because new DNA evidence has raised questions about his
guilt. A judge this week ordering
a new trial for Grega, the 50-year-old former Long Island man accused of
sexually assaulting and murdering his wife. Lawyers involved in the case say it marks the arrival in
Vermont of a national trend in which DNA evidence has been used to raise
questions about the guilt of people charged with serious felonies.
Friends of the Brandon Town Hall will host the
Vermont-based band “Atlantic Crossing” at 7:30 PM Saturday at the hall. Atlantic Crossing has been entertaining
audiences and contra dancers with traditional songs and acoustic music from New
England for more than 15 years. The band brings to life the music of the Helen
Hartness Flanders Collection of traditional New England songs with rich
harmonies and compelling rhythms.
Advance tickets can be purchased for $8 at Carr’s Florist in Brandon.
The price at the door is $10.
From Fox 44 and ABC 22 News – Your Voice in Vermont
& New York:
The end of summer marks the beginning of a school
year, and for many students, that first day is next week. Before 82,000 Vermont students make
their way down the halls and into the classroom, they'll need their shots. The
immunization bill requires schools to provide the Department of Health with
information about each student. The only way around it is a religious or
philosophical exemption. "I
have some concerns about philosophical exemptions because it's now your
philosophical exemption maybe putting my child at risk," Department of
Education Commissioner, Armando Vilaseca said. The commissioner has a vision for the future. "Our high
schools need to look more like tech centers." Vilaseca wants students to take more classes that they're
interested in. "They started seeing the connection between school and what
they wanted to do in the future," he said. But even when the department's budget increased by two
percent, courses were cut. "It
breaks my heart when I see school districts reducing art, music, physical
education," Vilaseca said. The
USDA changed its requirements, making it mandatory for schools to offer
healthier options in school lunches.
"More fruits and vegetables, make sure that half of their grains
are whole grains and be serving more lean meats," State Director of Child
Nutrition Programs, Laurie Colgan said.
Several schools in the state will start the year off working under
expired contracts, but the commissioner doesn't foresee any big issues.
Vilaseca doesn't support school boards imposing contracts on teachers or
teacher strikes. "Both of
those I would call them nuclear options," the commissioner said. Three thousand words... on average,
that's how much larger a child's vocabulary is when he or she attends
preschool. The Department of Education has set a goal to close that achievement
gap.
Members of the Northeast Kingdom occupy movement
left their mark on downtown sidewalks but not without paying a price. Like god is love not money..occupy the
earth...and also not pictured a couple of messages supporting marijuana usage.
By that afternoon though police had washed the sidewalks clean and issued
citations of disorderly conduct to the three members who were writing the
messages. We found that it was business owners on Main Street who complained to
police and the city manager that the chalkings portrayed a bad business image.
The punishment for the occupiers is a fifty dollar fine but all of them are
planning on fighting the citation...and if they lose they could end up paying
ten times that amount but there's no doubt they will contest the ticket. Oh of course..we were very orderly. And
it's annoying getting fines is annoying. Yeah we were very annoyed. this isn't
the first time the city has been annoyed by sidewalk chalkings done by the
occupy group...coming up at seven we'll talk more about the issue between the
city and occupiers as well as why business owners were so upset by the messages.
There’s a special treat for country fans heading to
the Champlain Valley Fair. Now
through 5 pm on Tuesday, you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1 to see The
Band Perry. The show is scheduled
for Wednesday, August 29. Here's
what you need to know:
- Tickets must be purchased only by phone or in person at 802-86-FLYNN; or at the fairgrounds
- Tickets aren't available over the Internet
- You need to know the password "railroad ave"
Executive Director Tim Shea from the Fair said they
are thrilled the band decided to do this; it really is a great value for their
guests on what is going to be a great show.
